Yilmaz 1 Berkan Yilmaz Mr.

Meyers English 12R Period 8 18 May 2012 Is the Internet Destroying the American Society? John Halligan will never forget that the Internet helped put his beloved son into a hell. His son, Ryan, was routinely bullied in school for his lack of good grades or athletic talent. As anyone who loves their child would do, Halligan supported his son. He even went as far as to teach Ryan how to fight. Halligan was overcome with joy as Ryan's self-esteem increased dramatically. After a while, one of the bullies learned, in a painful way, that he could not bully Ryan any longer. If he wanted to limit himself to school grounds, that is. He soon reasoned that he did not have to do so. He had the Internet on his side. Ryan, being young and inexperienced, accepted to be friends with this bully. John Halligan was extremely surprised and worried. Ryan told his new friend an embracing story. His young and fragile heart was not prepared for what came next. With the help of the Internet, Ryan's "friend" spread a rumor that Ryan was gay. Hesitant to talk to his parents about the issue, Ryan approached a girl online, hoping to put an end to the rumor. He felt on his shoulders the weight of his responsibility for the rumor, which pushed him into a depression with great force. After being publicly rejected by the girl to whom he approached, he committed suicide. John Halligan, who had no clue that Ryan needed help, was overcome by surprise and sadness of incredible magnitude. To this day, he is convinced that his son would not have died if it had not been for the fact that bullies used the Internet to strengthen their attacks on his son.

Yilmaz 2 The tragic event that Halligan experienced represents a very small fraction of the damage that Internet brings to the American society. American society is a group made of the population of the United States of America. People in it (Americans) work together to promote scientific research and the financial, psychological, and physical well-being of each other. This group also works to protect the rights of its members and provide justice for them. It is for these reasons that society makes and enforces laws. Some may argue that the Internet helps promote these goals by allowing a lot of information to be freely accessible, by enabling one to receive medication without leaving their home, or by helping young people cope with their social anxiety. However, the Internet's negative influence in relation to these goals is so much greater than its positive influence. Therefore, the Internet is threatening to destroy the American society by destroying its purpose of existence. The Internet damages the well-being of the American people in a number of ways, provides ways for laws to be ignored, enables property rights to be ignored, and damages scientific research of the future by reducing the quality of one's education. Psychological welfare of American society is endangered by the fact that the Internet amplifies one's narcissistic traits. It has been found that, from 1982 to 2006, there has been a thirty percent increase in the number of college students who got high scores on a test designed to detect such traits. Social networks were developed and became popular during this time period. This suggests the Internet is related to the increase in scores, because such sites (like MySpace or YouTube) provide ways for one to glorify themselves. These glorifications can be maintained on the Internet, unchallenged (Narcissism may be Hard Trend to Stop). For instance, a psychiatrist's patient created a character on a social network, made it a glorified version of himself and fell in love with it (Aboujaoude 77-79). Since narcissism is a psychiatric

Yilmaz 3 disorder, the Internet keeps the American society from promoting the psychological welfare of American people. This wakens one of the purposes of existence of the American society. Thus, it threatens to destroy the American society. Aside from promoting narcissistic behaviors, the Internet can damage one's psychological welfare by allowing them to become a victim of bullies in the Internet. The Internet makes it easy for bullies to offend their victims. In a survey conducted in 2007, 32 percent of teens in the survey that used the Internet admitted to having been bullied. A girl named Megan Meier ended up committing suicide after being bullied on a social network by a woman impersonating a boy (Colt, McQuade, Meyer 5, 92). Bullying is known to be psychologically harmful to its victims, and, since bullying can be conducted through the Internet, the Internet hinders the physiological welfare of Americans. This is in conflict with a goal (and purpose of existence) of the American society. Thus, the Internet is capable of destroying the American society. The Internets attack on psychological welfare of the American society does not end with indirectly supporting bullies. The Internet also provides an environment in which anorexia patients seek to promote their unhealthy eating patterns and seek refuge from the help they need. People with anorexia have an obsession with losing weight. As a result, the amount of food they eat during a given time period can be dangerously low (OFarrell). The number of people hospitalized for anorexia increased by 13 percent from 1999 to 2009 (Encinosa). During this time, the Internet was growing in popularity. Just from 2007 to 2009, the percentage of United States households using high speed Internet went up by 13 percent, according to Figure 1 ("High-speed Internet use increases"). It seems that anorexia patients contributed to this increase

Yilmaz 4 in the Internets popularity. In the Internet, anorexia patients have created online communities where they support each other's unhealthy behaviors and share strategies on how to avoid people telling them they need help, as anorexia is classified as a disease that should be treated and has serious health risks (OFarrell). The Internets relation to anorexia greatly damages the psychological and physical welfare of the American people. Therefore, the Internet threatens to destroy the American society by promoting anorexia. Therefore, it keeps the American Society from serving a purpose of its existence. Aside from promoting anorexia, the Internet also promotes prescription drug abuse, which can damage one's welfare in multiple ways. This was demonstrated in the case of Lynn Ray, whose abuse eventually led to a jail sentence the loss of her driver's license and job, along with risk of death (Meadows). Unfortunately, with the help of the Internet, more Americans are likely to get prescription drugs for abusive purposes and end up like Ray. In 2007, it was estimated that 85 percent of sites selling prescription drugs did not require a prescription. This estimate was based on 581 sites. 57 percent of sites requiring a prescription did not ask for anything else, allowing fake prescriptions to be submitted. Patients in the United States admitted to treatment centers for abuse of narcotics (except heroine) increased by 374 percent 2000 to 2007. The Internet's link to this is suggested by the fact that the number of United States households using the Internet increased by 43 percent from 1997 to 2007. In addition, from 1999 to 2003, online sales of prescription drugs (in the United States) increased by a factor of 20 (Goldman, Jena). Correlation between increased Internet use and increased sales of prescription drugs, along with increased prescription drug abuse, suggests that Internet promotes prescription drug abuse. This leads to prescription drug addiction, damaging the physiological, financial, and

Yilmaz 5 physical welfare of Americans. Thus, the Internet renders the American society less efficient in protecting the American people. This will likely lead to the destruction of the American society. Unfortunately, the Internet's connection to drug abuse does not end here. A study found that teenagers frequently visiting social networks were five times likelier to smoke. Teenagers seeing pictures of drinking on the Internet had a chance of getting marijuana four times higher than those who did not (OToole). This apparent correlation threatens to destroy the American society in a way similar to the Internet's correlation with prescription drug abuse. Increased drug abuse (thus increased drug addiction) damages the welfare of the American people, keeping the American society from serving one of its purposes of existence. Addictions that the Internet promotes do not end with drug addiction. The Internet also promotes internet gambling addiction. One patient suffering from such an addiction described, "Somehow [gambling] feels better online...[There is] no one to remind you of your responsibilities and your credit card debt" (Aboujaoude 26). It seems that he is not the only person in the United States who thinks so. Every year, Americans bet 6 billion dollars on poker sites based outside the United States. This is alarming for the American society, because this money includes the money from the credit cards of gambling addicts, who can lose their homes and marriages as well as their bank accounts (Online Gambling Is a Very Bad Bet). The damage that the Internet inflicts on financial welfare of Americans makes it difficult for the American society to protect Americans' financial welfare. Thus, the Internet attacks on one of the purposes of American society. Another way in which the Internet damages the financial welfare of Americans is by providing an environment for identity theft. Identity theft is defined as the act of stealing the

Yilmaz 6 characteristics that identify a person. These include a person's name, credit card number, and Social Security Number. Identity theft often hurts one's financial welfare, because purchases can be made using the stolen information. One of the largest incidents of identity theft to ever occur involved TJX Inc. Hackers stole about 40 million credit card numbers from TJX. Shortly thereafter, the incident made itself known to Americans. Some customers of Fidelity Homestead, a bank, saw that they were being held responsible for purchases in Southern California. It was verified that their information had been stolen during the TJX incident. Furthermore, just during the first six months of 2007, an internet security firm blocked more than 2.3 billion e-mails asking users for personal information (Risks of Identity Theft: Can the Market Protect the Payment System?). It is easy to see that the Internet has opened the doors for a new type of crime that threatens to damage Americans' financial well-being. One of the goals of American society is once again undermined by the Internet. This shakes the very foundations of the American society. The Internet's indirect support of crime does not end here. Sexual predators are taking advantage of the Internet's capabilities, seeking to more effectively violate the laws on which the American society is based. Chat rooms provide sexual predators with easy access to potential victims. Sexual predators attempt to make young potential victims think that meeting with them holds promises of gifts and travel for the victim, taking advantage of the inexperienced young people. It was found that one in five people between ages of ten and seventeen have been contacted by predators online (Kryzanek). The Internet's indirect support of sexual predators represents a threat to the laws of the United States, the guidelines for the operation of the American society. By undermining these guidelines, the Internet stands in the American society's

Yilmaz 7 bringing welfare to its members and accomplish its purpose. Therefore, the Internet threatens to destroy the American society. Unfortunately, it is not just sexual predators who are pursuing fantasies on the Internet. A very different group, those suffering from a new type of sexual addiction, also frequent the Web. Those in this group use the Internet obsessively for sexual stimulation. What keeps these people coming back to the Internet is the enormous amount of sexual content on the Internet that is either free or extremely affordable. It was estimated that these people spend at least eleven hours a day on the Internet. In a survey, 20 percent of those who admitted to seeking sexual stimulation on the Internet admitted that they were experiencing issues because of their behavior (Pennington). This addiction undermines the society's goal of protecting Americans' welfare. Since the Internet is the source of this addiction, it is responsible for shaking the foundations of the American society. These foundations, the goals of the society, will be brought to collapse by the Internet. A new kind of sexual addiction is not the only thing that formed because of the Internet. A survey reported that nearly 70 percent of those who had been harassed online between years of 2000 and 2007 were women. This is evidence for existence of "cyber mobs" that target specific groups. They usually target blogs of women, or those from ethnic minorities. Individuals that are attacked by cyber mobs are afraid to express their views to a large audience. They can also feel forced to abandon blogs that help them generate income (Levmore and Nussbaum 32-36). Since everyone is entitled to engage in these activities under the laws of the United States, cyber mobs go against the law. The Internet provides cyber mobs with an environment for their discriminatory activities, so it is responsible for the reduced ability of the American society to

Yilmaz 8 provide justice. By rendering the society less effective in achieving one of its goals, the Internet threatens to destroy the purpose for American society's existence. Providing a habitat for cyber mobs is not the only way in which the Internet undermines laws. The Internet caused an increase in the distribution of child porn, an activity which is prohibited by law. Child pornography has been shown to be easily accessible on file sharing sites. A study surveyed nearly 1200 images on a file sharing site. 42 percent were classified as child pornography. There was a likelihood of finding child pornography by searching for names of cartoon characters (Koontz). The Internet thus indirectly violates another one of the society's guidelines of operations. Thus, the Internet makes it more difficult for the American society to provide welfare to its members. This weakens the purpose of existence of the American society and thus is likely to destroy the American society. Aside from making it more difficult for the American society to provide for welfare of its members, the Internet undermines another goal of the society: to provide for justice. Internet enables the jurors in a case to develop a biased opinion about their case. Gathering information on the Internet violates a jurors promise to use only evidence to form a verdict. In 2009 alone, 21 cases had their verdicts overturned because of the activities of jurors on the Internet (Clark). Thus, the Internet makes it harder for the American society to provide justice for its members. Conflicting with one of the goals of the American society, the Internet destroys one of the societys purposes of existence. This will bring about the destruction of American society. Internet also goes against the American societys goal of protecting the rights of its members. It does so by enabling people to download copyrighted music for free, without the consent of the copyright holders. The Recording Industry Association of America reported that

Yilmaz 9 there are 7.8 million illegal music downloads occurring every month ("Stopping Music Piracy..."). Since this violates the copyright law, which was meant to protect rights to intellectual property, it keeps the America society from protecting a right of its members. Internet is the source of this blockade in the societys way. Therefore, it is the Internet that destroys a purpose of society, thus threatening to destroy the society. One's rights is not the only thing that the Internet endangers. The Internet is also capable of damaging the quality of one's education. It does so by giving one the illusion that they are knowledgeable when they are not. For example, Wikipedia, a web site where everyone can post articles, has more than 17 million articles. Several famous people, while they were alive, had their deaths announced on the site ("Wikipleadia: User-Generated Content"). A nonexistent disorder was once mentioned on the site (Aboujaoude 211). This is proof that the Internet is capable of damaging one's quality of education. In doing so, the Internet makes it harder for the society to promote scientific research. By keeping the society from achieving one of its goals, the Internet can bring about a loss of purpose for the American society, thus threatening to destroy it. Aside from giving one an illusion of knowledge, the Internet keeps the society from promoting education (thus, scientific research) by enabling students to damage their reputation in the eyes of college admissions committees. Because of their false sense of privacy, students post humiliating content on social networks. In 2007, it was reported that more than 20 percent of higher learning institutions look up candidates on social networks, letting the content that a student puts on the Internet to have an effect on the students' application. (Fodeman and Monroe). Thus, the Internet enables students damage their educational careers. This undermines

Yilmaz 10 the American society's goal of promoting scientific research. It thus rocks the society on its foundations (which are its goals). It thus threatens to destroy the American society. The Internet will destroy the American society by compromising the accomplishment of its goals. The Internet compromises the society's goals in a number of ways. In addition to damaging Americans' welfare in various ways, the Internet also makes the job of judicial system in the United States more difficult. It also reduces the quality of one's education, compromising future scientific research. The Internet should either be abolished or modified if the American society is to maintain its existence.

Figure 1

Yilmaz 11 Works Cited Aboujaoude, Elias. Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-personality. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. Print. Clark, Maggie. "Easy Internet Access by Jurors Imperils Trials." Los Angeles Times. 25 Dec 2011: A.13. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Mar 2012. Encinosa, William. An Update on Hospitalizations for Eating Disorders, 1999 to 2009. Naperville, IL: National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Related Disorders, Sept. 2011. PDF. Fodeman, Doug, and Marje Monroe. "The Impact of Facebook on our Students." Teacher Librarian 36.5 (2009): 36-40. ProQuest Education Journals; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. "High-speed Internet Use Increases." Chart. Cape Cod Times. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 17 May 2012. Jena, Anupam B., and Dana P. Goldman. "Growing Internet use may Help Explain the Rise in Prescription Drug Abuse in the United States." Health affairs 30.6 (2011): 1192-9. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 25 Feb. 2012. Koontz, Linda D. "File-Sharing Programs: Child Pornography Is Readily Accessible over..." FILE SHARING PROGRAMS: CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IS READILY ACCESSIBLE OVER PEER-TO-.... 13 Mar 2003: 1-20. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 09 Feb 2012. Kryzanek, Michael. "Internet Predators Spring from our Culture." Boston Globe: 6. ProQuest Newsstand. Aug 03 2006. Web. 18 Mar. 2012 .

Yilmaz 12 Levmore, Saul, and Martha C. Nussbaum. The Offensive Internet: Speech, Privacy, and Reputation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2010. Print. McQuade, Samuel C., James P. Colt, and Nancy B. B. Meyer. Cyber Bullying: Protecting Kids and Adults from Online Bullies. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2009. Print. Meadows, Michelle. "Prescription Drug Use and Abuse." FDA Consumer (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). Sept./Oct. 2001: 18-24. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 21 Feb 2012. "Narcissism may be Hard Trend to Stop." Lincoln Journal Star: 7. ProQuest Newsstand. Mar 02 2007. Web. 18 Mar. 2012 . O'Farrell, Peggy. "UC Study: Internet Fuels Anorexia." Cincinnati Enquirer. 23 Feb 2011: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Mar 2012. Online Gambling Is a Very Bad Bet." The Day. 10 Oct 2011: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Mar 2012. O'Toole, Molly. "Social Networking Boosts Teen Drug Abuse Risk--Study." Reuters Media. 25 Aug 2011: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 18 Mar 2012. Pennington, Dawn A. "Breaking Free." Counseling Today Vol. 45 No. 6. Dec. 2002: 8-10. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 12 Mar 2012. "Risks of Identity Theft: Can the Market Protect the Payment System?: Agricultural and Business Conditions, Tenth Federal Reserve District." Economic Review - Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. <http://search.proquest.com/docview/218426086?accountid=30319>. "Stopping Music Piracy..." McClatchy - Tribune Business News. 27 Dec 2008: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 12 Mar 2012.

Yilmaz 13 "Wikipleadia: User-Generated Content." Economist. 15 Jan 2011: 69. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 12 Mar 2012